White rabbit
by Horrorfana
Summary: Katie has spent the last year of her life running. What happens when she encounters a certain man in a hat and gets sucked into the madness of wonderland. On hiatus
1. Chapter 1

Almost...any_ second now..._

Katie casually pushes her way thru the crowd in the street and bumps into the man she's been eyeing rather roughly.

"Watch it!"

"Sorry my bad. Just trying to see."

"Yeah well try somewhere else."

Katie shrugs before turning around and stealthily weaving her way out of the crowd surrounding the crime scene. Once away from the crowd, she pulls the wallet from the front pocket of her white coat. She opens it and smiles triumphantly at her prize.

_Sucker..._

"Hey, that bitch stole my wallet!"

_Crap!_

Katie takes off just as the man dashes away from the crowd and after her. Katie races down an empty alley and hops the fence at the end. The man hops the same fence moments later. He is quickly closing the distance between them due to her petite form. It isn't long before the man grabs her and pins her to the brick wall in another alley.

"You little..."

Katie smiles nervously as she hands him his wallet back. She starts to move away but the man simply pushes her back.

"Look, I'm sorry. I won't do it again blah blah blah, you get the gist. So if you'll let me go, I've gotta get back home soon."

"Oh no girly. I don't like it when some punk steals from me. You've gotta pay for that."

Before Katie can respond, the man has a knife at her neck. She pales and holds her hands up in surrender.

"Whoa dude, I'm sorry. Just let me go. I'm only seventeen for crying out loud."

"Sorry kid, but you have this comin..."

"I'm just trying not to starve! Cut me some slack!"

"Don't care you little brat. Now hold still, this will hurt a little then you won't be feeling much of anything..."

Katie winces in anticipation as the man raises the knife, only to freeze in place. Katie looks at him in curiosity.

"Now, is that any way to treat a lady? Drop the knife."

The man drops the knife and Katie watches wide eyed in confusion.

"Good. But don't you think she deserves an apology? Apologize for your brutish behavior."

The man stares forward, his face expressionless.

"Sorry miss. I won't let it happen again."

"Now, go make yourself useful and jump off a bridge."

"Yes sir."

The man walks away and Katie is frozen in horror as she instantly recognizes the man standing before her. Her breath quickens as Jervis Tetch walks over to her.

"Are you alright miss...?"

"Katie...My names Katie."

Tetch examines a lock of her long white hair and frowns slightly in disappointment.

"All wrong...I suppose that is your name. Did that beast harm you?"

"No..no sir."

"That's excellent. May I ask why he was after you?"

Katie gulps and shakes slightly, the cold air not helping.

"I took his wallet."

"I see."

After a moment of silence Katie gets anxious.

"Um...Its getting late and I need to get home..."

Tetch smiles warmly and takes a step back.

"Then by all means..."

"Thank you."

With that Katie quickly walks away from him before dashing out of the alley, twords her 'home'.

By the time she reaches the house, the sun has set. She tosses her coat on the couch and hands over the other two wallets she had collected to her boyfriend sitting on the couch.

"Only two? What happened?"

"Got caught. Would've been three if the guy hadn't caught me."

_Or pulled a knife._

"Well, it looks like another weeks worth of crap."

Katie smirks before sitting down next to him and resting her legs over his lap.

"But David, it isn't crap, it's food." She says in a teasing voice.

"I was a vegan before I met you. I'm starting to think you're a bad influence."

Katie frowns. "Well I'm sorry but you're the one who offed my..."

"Hey! You were begging for help. I only took care of her because you wanted to run off. I did what I had to after seeing you like that. It's good thing you didn't have any broken bones or else we'd be screwed."

Katie smiles slightly and moves to sit in his lap. "Sorry. Let's forget it. What did you get today?"

David smiles and pulls a gold pocketwatch out of his pocket.

"Got it from the pawn shop on fifth. Didn't even get caught."

Katie smiles and runs her hand thru his hair.

"Aww, my hero. Now we've got another month or two. So...how long before we gotta Pack up?"

"The newlyweds atento due back for another week. Quit being so damn paranoid."

Katie frowns and crosses her arms. "I just don't want to go to Blackgate."

"And as long as I'm around, you'll be safe. Trust me."

Katie relaxes slightly and rests her hands in her lap. "I do, but I haven't been doing this as long as you."

"Which is why you need to chill out, and enjoy the rest of the week."

Katie leans against Davids chest and smiles warmly. "I'm just stressed out today I guess."

David wraps his arm around Katie. "I love you so much."

"Bet I love you more."


	2. Chapter 2

Katie wakes to the sound of a garage door opening. She gets wide eyed in realization and quickly starts to shake David awake.

"Come on! We need to go!"

"Wha...we don't have to go til Saturday."

Katie shoves him off the couch. David stands up rubbing his arm.

"What the hell?!"

"You said we had three days!"

"We do."

"Today is Saturday!"

"Crap."

Katie runs a hand thru her hair and frantically begins to gather her things in the nearby duffel bag.

"We'll talk about this later. Hurry up and help."

David huffs and dashes over to gather the various items on the floor.

"Not my fault."

"Do us both a favor and shut up before you say something stupid again."

David shoves the last of the clothes into the bag and zips it up. They run out the door just as they hear the back door open and slip into an alley.

"Again. What is that supposed to mean?!"

Katie looks over at David in annoyance.

"This is the fifth time you've messed up! Every time you forget when to leave, we end up fighting!"

"Well excuse me for not having a track on time Miss Paranoid. But none of this is my fault. I get so sick of your crap sometimes..."

Katie glares at him and clenches her fists at her sides.

"Would it kill you to steal a freakin watch or something?! Geez. You know, there's this magical thinking device known as a brain. Why don't you use one?"

David glares back at Katie as he reaches inside the duffel bag and pulls out a pocketwatch. He holds it up in front of her face.

"I did, remember?"

Katie pushes his hand away. "Then why didn't you use it?!"

David freezes and puts the watch away.

"Fair enough. You have every right to be pissed."

Katie rests against the brick wall behind her and takes a deep breath.

"Sorry. It's just a little annoying waking up in a panic. Can I have my coat? It's freezing out here."

"It's only sixty."

David reaches into the bag and after some digging finds her coat and hands it to her. Katie smiles and quickly pulls it on.

"So where to next?"

"Well, I went scouting yesterday and I think the Sampson family at a reunion in Wisconsin shouldn't mind us crashing for a few days."

"How far?"

"Only seven miles. Should be settled in by lunch."

"Sweet. Let's go."

Katie follows David out of the alley and raises an eyebrow at the direction he chooses.

"The narrows? Isn't that a little risky?"

"Well we don't exactly have time to be picky, do we?"

When they enter the narrows, Katie clings to Davids arm and is careful to stay in pace with him.

"It's not that bad."

"The nut house is around here."

"So?"

"That houses murderers!" Katie whispers. "What if they get loose?! I don't like it here."

"It's only a few days. Then we'll go back to Gotham Estates. This isn't that different."

"This is completely opposite of the suburbs!"

"Okay, well just relax. There it is."

Katie looks in the direction David is pointing to and she smiles in relief. An appartment building in fairly good condition is their destination. They reach the stairs and David struggles to get the door open. Katie feels an eerie chill go down her spine as David holds the door open for her.

"What's wrong?"

"Is someone watching us?"

David smirks. "Paranoid much? We're all alone."

Katie runs a hand thru her hair and glances behind her before quickly walking inside the appartment complex. They find the vacant appartment and after proper introductions between the lock and a safety pin, are inside.

Eighteen months ago

Katie sits on her bed rubbing the forming bruise on her cheek. She hears the front door slam shut and breathes a sigh of relief. Knowing that she has a few hours before her mother returns, Katie grabs her purse and waits a minute before dashing out of the house.

Within thirty minutes, she arrives at the park. She takes a seat on a bench and watches the people playing around her. A warm smile spreads across her face and she leans back. A dark haired boy sits down beside her.

"That blonde girl is gonna steal that doll."

Katie looks over at David.

"What?"

"That blonde girl. You can tell what a brat she is by how she's eyeing that doll the black haired girl is playing with. Just watch. I bet she'll get away with it."

Katie looks back at the blonde girl as she stands up and pushes the black haired girl to the ground. The blonde girl steals the doll and says something to the other girl before running away. The blonde girl runs over to a man sitting on another bench and shows him the doll. He pats her on the head and sends her back to play. Katie turns back to David.

"You're good."

"Thanks. My names David."

"Katie."

She turns to face David and his expression turns to one of concern.

"What happened?"

Katie silently curses herself and covers her bruised cheek with her hand as she dashes out of the park.

Present

Katie accidentally elbows David in her sleep, jolting her awake. She sits up and looks over to confirm that David is still asleep beside her. She smiles and carefully eases her way out of the mess of blankets. Once free, she walks over to a soot coated window and sighs to herself.

With some effort, she manages to pry it open. Katie leans out the window by resting her folded arms on the frame. She takes a deep breath of the crisp air before returning inside and pulling the window closed once more.

Once she adjusts her black night shirt Katie walks over to the duffel bag across the room and digs thru it. She finds the small box she's looking for and opens it. Katie holds the golden locket against her chest and smiles. Still holding the locket, she pulls out a small pile of pictures from the box.

She smiles at each photo as she remembers when they were taken. Katie pauses on a picture of herself and David sitting at the docks. In the picture they are sharing a kiss shortly after David gave Katie the locket.

Katie hears mumbling from across the room and puts everything away before returning to the makeshift bed. She crawls under the blankets and rests her head against Davids chest.


	3. Chapter 3

Katie stirs in her sleep and groans as she accidentally turns to fact the sunlight shining thru the window. She shields her eyes and turns. She feels next to her in the makeshift bed but frowns when she finds the space empty.

After a few minutes, Katie finally stands and walks to the duffel bag, stretching as she does so. She hears a noise and walks twords it to find David working on a run down microwave.

"Whatcha doing?"

David looks over at Katie and smirks.

"Trying to make breakfast."

"And how's that working out?"

"As soon as I can get this freakin stupid..."

David hits the side of the microwave in frustration and it turns on.

"Voila! We have oatmeal."

The microwave dings and David opens the door, only to be splattered with cold oatmeal. Katie walks to the duffel bag in the other room and returns with a towel. She wipes some of the oatmeal from his face before he takes the towel from her to do it himself.

"I think we should stick to cereal as long as we're here."

David smirks. "Can you go, or are you still freaking out about the nut house?"

"It isn't the Asylum. It's the people in it."

"Whatever, I was going out anyway. If you're going to be paranoid again, I'm gonna have to hit another place today."

"Why don't you sell the watch?"

David shrugs indifferently. "I was thinking about keeping it. It's a nice watch and hey, your birthdays coming up."

"Three months ago."

"Close enough."

"Its been about a year since you saved me."

"Whatever you say. Anaversary then. Either way I want you to keep it. Lord knows I'm not going to use it."

Sixteen months ago

Katie sits on a bench outside the ice cream shop with David beside her.

"I didn't think anybody liked vanilla."

Katie shrugs indifferently. "I guess I'm just different. Chocolate is just too predictable."

David looks at his own cone and smirks. "I guess it is."

"But sometimes predictable is good." Katie smiles warmly at David.

"Opposites attract?"

"Sometimes."

"Then let's hope this is one of those times. So...don't be mad but I've been wondering...is your hair...?"

"One hundred percent. As real as it gets."

"Guess that makes you one of a kind."

"I guess it does. You know it's weird, neither of my parents had hair like me."

"All the better then. So...is this a date?"

"I guess it is. So, are we a couple?"

"I guess we are."

Fourteen months ago

"Were are we going?"

"It's a surprise. You'll like it."

"Is the blindfold really necessary?"

"Yes. Here we are."

David pulls the blindfold off of Katie and holds out his hand to present the skate park decked out in Christmas lights.

"Why the skate...?"

"It was the only place empty this time of night."

"Really?"

"You'd be surprised. Now...shall we dance?"

"What about the...?"

David pops an earbud in her ear and turns on his iPod.

"...Music."

David smirks and turns the iPod on.

"Since you missed prom and all."

**A/N: hey everyone, thanks for the support. So here's the deal with the updates, I normally only do them at my mom's since she has wifi, but recently it stopped working. So now I have to rely on my dad's super weak connection to do anything online. I know the chapters are short but I have the next one written and it's a good size. I hope that once the plot gets going it'll be easier to write as well. Also I want to give a shoutout to Horsewhisper3 for requesting this story and to wrap up this note, my main story Apprentice of fear is ending soon...like three chapters of so. **


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